Available with prior consent of the CELT programme for purposes of academic research and teaching only.

Notes

[The precise relationship between MSS 14 (below) is a matter for scholarly debate. Two views have been put forward, that of Walsh and Mooney (for bibliographical details of their publications, see below). According to Walsh, MSS 1 and 4 are what remains of the set presented to the patron, Ferghal Ó Gadhra; MSS 2 and 3 are the copies forwarded to Louvain for possible printing. According to Mooney, MSS 1 and 3 are the set presented to the patron, Ferghal Ó Gadhra; MSS 2 and 4 are what remains of the set forwarded to Louvain. It is more likely that Walsh's view is correct. For an excellent and fully documented discussion of the problem, see Nollaig Ó Muraíle, The autograph manuscripts of the Annals of the Four Masters, Celtica 19 (1987) 7595.]

Dublin, University College L, OFM, A 13; paper; s. xvii; an autograph copy but scribal signatures are absent in the body of the text. The hands resemble those of Míchél Ó Cléirigh, but there are other hands including marginal notes by John Colgan. Annals from AM 2242 to AD 1169. For a description of the MS, see Myles Dillon, Canice Mooney, & Pádraig de Brún, Catalogue of Irish manuscripts in the Franciscan Library, Killiney (Dublin 1969) 2427; Paul Walsh, 'Extracts from the Franciscan manuscripts of the 'Annals of the Four Masters'', Irisleabhar Muighe Nuadhad, 1916, 17-24; Ó Muraíle, op. cit. 9495.

Dublin, Trinity College Library, 1300 olim H. 2. 9 and H. 2. 10; paper; s. xviii (1734-5) scribe: Hugh O'Mulloy (Aodh Ó Maolmhuaidh); a transcript of MS (i) made for John O'Fergus. For a description of the MS, see T. K. Abbott and E. J. Gwynn, Catalogue of Irish manuscripts in the library of Trinity College Dublin (Dublin 1921) 82).

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 988 and 989 olim 23 F 2 and 23 F 3; paper; s. xviii; scribe not named; the text was transcribed in the house of Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, and apparently under his supervision. This is a transcript of MS (i). For a description of the MS, see Kathleen Mulchrone, Catalogue of Irish manuscripts in the Royal Irish Academy, fasc. 22 (1940) 282930).

John O'Donovan (ed. & trans.) Annala Rioghachta Eireann: Annals of the kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, from the earliest period to the year 1616. Edited from MSS in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy and of Trinity College Dublin with a translation and copious notes, 7 vols. (Dublin 1848-51; repr. Dublin, 1856; repr. Dublin, 1990.) [volumes i-ii: pp v-vi (dedicatory letter of the editor) + pp vii-liv (introductory remarks, including original documents) + pp lv-lxi (epistle dedicatory of Míchél Ó Cléirigh) + pp lxiii-lxxi (contemporary approbations of the work) + pp 2-1187 (text and translation) + pp 1189-93 (addenda and corrigenda); volumes iii-vi: pp 2-2375 (text and translation) + pp 2377-2494 (a genealogical appendix, including original documents) + 2494-8 (addenda et corrigenda); volume vii: pp 405 (indexes). There are three separate paginations: volumes i-ii, volumes iii-vi, and volume vii, each having separate pagination. The edition of volumes i-ii, AM 2242-AD 1171, is made from a corrected copy of Charles O'Conor's edition (Buckingham, 1826). This edition is based on MS (i) which was not available to O'Donovan. O'Donovan collated the text so derived with MS (v) and MS (vi) both eighteenth-century transcripts of MS (i). MS (ii) was not known to O'Conor or O'Donovan. The text of the remainder of the remainder of the Annals (volumes iii-vi) is edited from MS (iii) collated with MS (iv).]

Owen Connellan, The Annals of Ireland, translated from the original Irish of the Four Masters (Dublin, 1846) [Annals from 1171 to 1616].

Eugene O'Curry, Lectures on the manuscript materials of ancient Irish history (Dublin, 1861; repr. Dublin, 1878) 141-61 [note O'Curry's translation of John Colgan's remarks about Míchél Ó Cléirigh (143-45) and his sardonic comments on the Stowe sale of Irish MSS and the attitude of Lords Macaulay and Ashburnham].

Brendan Jennings, Michael O Cleirigh, chief of the Four Masters, and his associates (Dublin, 1936) [an inadequate account of the MSS, otherwise very valuable].

Paul Walsh, 'Manuscripts of the Four Masters (R.I.A. 23 P 6 and 7 [=Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MSS 687-8])', Ir Book Lover 24 (1936) 81-3 [repr. for the most part in a chapter of his The Four Masters and their work].

Pádraig A. Breatnach, 'Irish records of the Nine Years' War: a brief survey, with particular notice of the relationship between Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill and the Annals of the Four Masters'. In Ó Riain, Pádraig (ed.), Beatha Aodha Ruaidh: the life of Red Hugh O'Donnell. Historical and literary contexts (Irish Texts Society, subsidiary series 12) (London 2002) 124-147.

Daniel P. Mc Carthy, on his website at http://www.cs.tcd.ie/misc/kronos/chronology/synchronisms/annals-chron.htm offers comprehensive information on two traditions of dating used in the Irish Annals, together with two ancillary articles, 'Chronological synchronisation of the Irish annals', and 'Collation of the Irish regnal canon'.

Bernadette Cunningham, O'Donnell Histories: Donegal and the Annals of the Four Masters (Rathmullan, 2007).

Edel Bhreatnach and Bernadette Cunningham (eds.), Writing Irish History: the Four Masters and their World (Dublin, 2007).

Bernadette Cunningham, 'The Ó Duibhgeannáin family of historians and the Annals of the Four Masters', Breifne 44 (2008) 557-572.

Nicholas Evans, The present and the past in medieval Irish chronicles, Studies in Celtic History 27 (Woodbridge, 2010).

Bernadette Cunningham, The Annals of the Four Masters (Dublin, 2010).

Pádraig A.Breatnach, The Four Masters and their manuscripts: studies in palaeography and text (Dublin, 2013).

The edition used in the digital edition

Annala Rioghachta Eireann: Annals of the kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, from the earliest period to the year 1616. Edited from MSS in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy and of Trinity College Dublin with a translation and copious notes.. in Volume 5: translationJohn O'Donovan (ed), First edition [Seven volumes. Volumes iii: pp vvi (dedicatory letter of the editor)+ pp viiliv (introductory remarks, including original documents) + pp lvlxi (epistle dedicatory of Mícheál Ó Cléirigh) + pp lxiiilxxi (contemporary approbations of the work) + pp 21187 (text and translation) + pp 118993 (addenda and corrigenda); volumes iiivi: pp 22375 (text and translation) + pp 23772494 (a genealogical appendix, including original documents) + 249498 (addenda et corrigenda); volume vii: pp 405 (indexes). There are three separate paginations: volumes i-ii, volumes iiivi, and volume vii, each having separate pagination. The whole work extends to 4167 pp.] Hodges & Smith Dublin (1848-51)

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CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts

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The present text represents pages 1259-1875 of the translation of volume 5, being the years A. D. 1501 to A. D. 1588, in the chronology of the compilers. All editorial introduction, original text, notes and indexes have been omitted. Editorial corrigenda are integrated into the electronic edition. Missing text supplied by the editor is tagged sup.

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Text has been checked and proofread three times. All corrections and supplied text are tagged. The Annals of the Four Masters is an extremely large and complex work. Any corrections of errors in the original text, as edited by O'Donovan, or in this digital edition are welcome. They will be credited to the scholars who make them.

The editors of this digital edition reproduce O'Donovan's translation, with a few obvious corrections, in the full knowledge of its limitations. Its limitations are particularly evident in the translations of the embedded verse in Old and Middle Irish, many of which (given the stage of development of Irish studies in the mid-nineteenth century) are approximations or mistaken. Their correction cannot be undertaken in this digital edition and must await a new scholarly edition of the Annals as a whole. O'Donovan omits diacritics in the English translation, but quantities are marked in the digital edition of the Irish text, and this should be consulted on this point.

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The electronic text represents the edited text. The editor's divisions of words have been retained.

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div0=the body of annals; div1=the individual annals (i.e. the annalistic matter gathered under one year); div2=the annalistic entry; paragraphs are marked; passages of verse occurring within paragraphs are treated as embedded texts and the stanzas are marked lg and metrical lines are marked l. Page-breaks are marked pb n=""; words in languages other than English are tagged.